


Que Será, Será

by KlonoaDreams



Category: Naruto
Genre: Asexual Character, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Female Uzumaki Naruto, Gen, Heteronormativity is dead btw, Hinata is hella gay for Naruto, Multi, Naruto is a nervous wreck, Naruto is also Tomato 2: Electric Boogaloo, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sasuke wants to befriend the tomato, Self-Insert, don't expect it here, the title for this fic is super relevant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-07-11 13:07:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7053052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KlonoaDreams/pseuds/KlonoaDreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Whatever will be, will be. The future's not ours to see. "Que será, será," she bitterly remarks. [SI, Self-insert as fem!Naruto.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tomato

**Author's Note:**

> I have absolutely no self-control, so here you have another freaking Naruto SI OC fic from me, except this time, we're taking on a different concept! The same rules as before regarding my other Naruto SI OC fics apply, in that world building and OCs carry over, except for the SI. So do keep that in mind and don't take it too personally when my OCs pop up, as someone had with Metamorphosis.
> 
> Disclaimer for whole story: I don't own Naruto or anything related to the Naruto franchise! I am in no ways Masashi Kishimoto, nor will I ever be! I only own my OCs, of which I have many—so do keep that in mind.

Sasuke is four years old when he bumps into a chubby, spiky-haired child with ochre skin. He lands rear-first onto the ground and winces in pain from the impact. It hurts, he thinks as he opens an eye. He can already hear his older brother, Itachi, admonishing him for not watching where he was going.

"You should have been paying attention." And there he goes. "Now apologize."

"Y-Yes, Nii-san…" A light blush dusts Sasuke's cheeks a light red. "I'm sorry for…"

Sasuke trails off, his onyx black eyes widening in awe when he realizes his face isn't the only thing that is red. He had seen quite a number of people with spiky hair of varying colors, so he is quite used to the sight. But he has never seen spiky hair of such a fiery red color. It's so bizarre, because he didn't think such a color could exist—except it does, and he's looking right at it.

"What're you lookin' at-ttebayo?!" Violet eyes stare angrily at him.

Sasuke sputters, pale skin burning red as he suddenly blurts out the very first word that pops into his head. "T-Tomato!"

…

…

Whiskered cheeks heat up with a blush as violet eyes narrow angrily. "What was _that_?"

"Tomato?" Sasuke unconsciously repeats. His eyes are still on the spiky-haired redhead, who looks even _more_ like a tomato when angry— "Whoa!"

Sasuke barely has any time to react when Itachi suddenly grabs him by the arm and pulls him away. He barely avoids a potentially forceful tackle from the redhead, who instead lands face-first onto the ground where he once was.

" _Wow…that probably hurts,"_ Sasuke thinks, before letting out an annoyed whine when his forehead receives a forceful poke from Itachi.

"It's not nice to tease girls, Sasuke," is what Itachi tells him.

Sasuke needs a moment as he rubs at his forehead. For one thing, he never meant to tease that girl and for another— _"That's a girl?"_

Well…that's the last time he'd make any assumptions based on clothing. At least he now knows what his relative, Kōichi, meant when they said clothes were clothes (it makes a lot more sense now that he actually _thinks_ about it)…

"Go on, Sasuke—help her up." Itachi gives Sasuke a gentle shove towards the spiky-haired redhead.

Sasuke doesn't even try to argue. He just does as he is told, and narrowly avoids getting punched in the face seconds afterwards. "What the heck?!"

"That was _supposed_ to be for calling me a tomato-ttebayo!" the redhead angrily replies, her hands balled into tiny fists.

"Oh…sorry…" Sasuke is at a loss at what to say. He's not used to talking to new people… "Umm…I didn't mean to insult you—I like tomatoes, actually!"

"Yes, that's nice… _what_?" The redhead's anger subsides, her expression now replaced with one of confusion. "You…like…tomatoes?"

Sasuke nods his head. "Yeah! They're really good and…I didn't think it was possible to have hair as red as one, so…"

"Well, your hair looks like a duck's butt, but you don't hear me saying anything, dattebayo!" The redhead crosses her arms and turns her head in a huff.

"Tsun-tsun," Sasuke says almost automatically. It's what Shisui tells him when he acts like this.

"I am _not_!" she protests. Her face contorts into a scowl she sees that Sasuke is laughing. "What's so funny-ttebayo?!"

"You are!" Sasuke can't help but smile. He just finds her so entertaining. He wonders if this is what it feels like to be Shisui… Though, he doesn't linger on that thought for too long, as a new one quickly takes over. "Hey—what's your name?! I'm Uchiha Sasuke!"

Sasuke waits eagerly for a response, his smile never once leaving his face. He doesn't have any friends, but just now, he thought that maybe—just _maybe_ —this girl would make a good friend. He likes that idea.

"Uchiha Sasuke…" the redhead repeats, looking somewhat uninterested…at first, until she realizes whose name she had just said. It is at that moment that her eyes widen in horror as she loudly exclaims, "Oh _crap_!"

Sasuke stops smiling almost immediately. He frowns when the redhead suddenly bolts and turns to look at Itachi, who has been watching this entire time. "Was it something I said, Nii-san? Hey—does she hate me?"

"Hn…" Itachi thinks for a moment and then shakes his head. "I don't think so…"

"Then why did she just run?" Sasuke recalls how terrified that girl was of him. "I just told her my name and…"

"Maybe she's afraid of getting in trouble…" Itachi tries his best to offer some possible insight. Although, it isn't the best, but he's still trying. "Uchiha has a lot of history behind it, after all…"

"Hmph…" Sasuke pouts childishly. "Well, then…I don't like being an Uchiha!"

A small smile tugs at the corner Itachi's lips. "I guess that means you don't want to learn the Goukakyuu…"

"What—nonono, I do!" Sasuke is quick to react. "I still want to learn it, just… I _really_ wanted to know her name…"

He _did_ tell her his, after all…

"Ah…well, I happen to know it." Itachi _was_ waiting for Sasuke to ask him, but he decides that waiting isn't worth it. "It's Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uzumaki Naruto…" A wide grin crosses Sasuke's expression. "So that's her name! Hey—do you think she'll be my friend?!"

"That all depends on you." Itachi averts his gaze as he recalls the unfortunate situation regarding the spiky-haired redhead. It's only by chance that that he and Sasuke had happened to come upon her in such an empty area on their way back home. The last thing any of them needed was unwanted attention by random bystanders… "It's your choice, after all."

And Itachi is willing to respect whatever decision his little brother makes. It's the least he can do as an older brother, considering how little time he has to spend with Sasuke. The life of a Genin is rather difficult for someone as young as he is…but Itachi doesn't complain. He just continues doing what he can do.

"Okay!" Sasuke understands completely. "Then the next time I see her, I'll ask her if she wants to be my friend!"

Itachi chuckles and gives his little brother an affectionate poke to the forehead. "You do that…"

"Stop poking me!" Sasuke whines.

…

…

Uzumaki Naruto tries her best not to swear up a storm as she runs as fast as she can down the dirt path. She ends up swearing anyways because she recalls, quite vividly, her encounter with Uchiha Sasuke. Her head begins to throb when Sasuke's older brother, Itachi, pops up in her thoughts. Her stomach churns in response to the sudden influx of concerns she has regarding the future.

_No, no, no, no!_

Naruto doesn't want to think about that! She doesn't…but she somehow does, and it is just so overwhelming— "Huurk!"

Naruto retches quite violently. Nothing comes out, but the sensation is still unpleasant enough that it doesn't really matter. Her stomach is hurting, as is her chest. Her head is still throbbing and the pain is just…

_It's too much…_

Naruto crouches down onto the ground, her arms wrapped tightly around her stomach. She wants to cry. She wants to cry so much, because nothing wants to go right today. All it takes for her to snap out of it is a simple smack to the face. Her cheeks are hurting, but she feels much more grounded than before. It's not much, but it still helps her focus on calming her nerves.

It takes a few minutes' worth of breathing exercises, but she manages. She's still trembling, but otherwise, she's fine.

…

…

Well, as fine as she can possibly be.

" _It's a lot harder to hold it in when you're a kid…_ " It's rather unfortunate, but Naruto has enough firsthand experience to _know_ that. It really fucking sucks, but there's not much that she can do. Her life has been like that since the very day she was given her second chance at life in the form of a red-haired baby girl.

There are so many things that Naruto finds wrong with her new life. The fact that her name is Uzumaki Naruto is one of them, because it's **not fair** that she has to find out that she has been reborn into the world of _Naruto_ as the titular character. It's not fair that her life had been threatened by a man wearing an orange mask—just mere _minutes_ after her rebirth. It's not fair that both of her parents had to die on the very day she was born, alongside many others due to the tailed beast that now rests within her stomach and the aforementioned masked man.

It's just not fair.

 _Not fair not_ _**fair not fair** _ _!_

It…really isn't fair. Because she's barely four years old—she's just a child, but not many people treat her like one. She's not even living the life of one, either, considering the fact that she's living on her own in an apartment that has seen better days. Not that she ever had a chance of living the life of a child, considering what her future entailed as Uzumaki Naruto in a world where children, at a young age, are trained to become killers.

" _Even so—even so!"_ Naruto thinks it's unfair for any child to have to live the life she currently has, where everyone avoids her like the plague. Shopping for food is such a difficult task, when some shopkeepers decide that it's perfectly fine to yell at a child who barely even approaches their shop.

Naruto is fine with being ignored, despite how much it hurts. Because at the very least, she didn't have to worry about anything—certainly not people yelling at her for doing absolutely nothing wrong. But now she does, because the damage has been done. She can't walk around town without feeling so anxious around adults.

Children she can handle, despite the fact that many like to pick on her for having such red hair. It doesn't get to her, though…it just annoys her, getting called a tomato day in and day out (it's not even that creative of an insult, especially since she isn't the first person to get called one for having red hair and a round face). It's rather sad that she's doing _sooo_ much better now that she's living on her own instead of at the orphanage.

It hasn't even been that long since she had moved out—maybe a few months at best. As disturbed as she is with how easily acceptable it is for a child her age to be allowed to live alone, she does enjoy some perks. She gets to sleep in as long as she wants, without having to worry about anyone jumping her in her sleep (her roommates at the orphanage were _assholes_ ). She also gets to stay up, without anyone telling her to go to sleep.

It makes her life so much easier, since her ADHD makes it damn near impossible for her to stay still for long periods of time. From the very moment she could walk, Naruto has found it increasingly difficult to sleep early now that she can get places without the help of a caretaker. Living on her own had only managed to fuck up her sleeping schedule, as she had done in her past life, due to living the life of a university student that had a nasty habit of procrastinating. The only issues Naruto really has, living on her own, is remembering to take a shower and wash her own clothes.

_Growl._

Oh, and eat…

…

" _I should probably get something to eat…"_ Naruto knows she didn't eat lunch, since she spent an obscene amount of time wandering about the public bathhouse in hopes of taking a bath while the women's side was empty. _"Yeah…I should…"_

Naruto stands up straight and exhales shakily. She is somewhat relieved, somewhat nervous—but mostly just relieved… She's not even that surprised with how easily distracted she can get. She welcomes it, because it's keeping her mind off of the encounter she had with a certain pair of Uchiha brothers.

She knows she'll eventually have to confront the future issues surrounding the two (as well as many others in general), but for now, she doesn't want to think about the future at all. She doesn't want to even consider the responsibilities she even has, being Uzumaki Naruto. She just wants to live and do as little as she can to avoid changing any of the events that have yet to come.

Foreknowledge has its limits once events begin to deviate. And Naruto isn't willing to take any chances. She already has enough to deal with, anyways, being a deviation herself. So she goes on her way, pushing all thoughts aside, except those regarding ramen. It's such an easy thing to do, when she's hungry.

Not that she minds…it makes her life all the more easier when she isn't a nervous wreck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I have no excuse at all for this fic—it just is and say hello to Tomato 2: Electric Boogaloo. AKA, the SI!Fem!Naruto fic that no one ever asked from me!
> 
> [ALSO I DREW THIS AND BASICALLY THIS IS HOW SHE LOOKS.](http://klonoadreams.tumblr.com/post/145175503424/woop-forgot-to-give-tomato-2-electric-boogaloo) Have a sneak peak at what's to come while you're at it.
> 
> And it hasn't even been 24 hours since I posted this fic on fanfiction.net, [BUT I ALREADY HAVE FANART?!?!??!?!](http://lyricaljelly.tumblr.com/post/145231078948/que-ser%C3%A1-ser%C3%A1)
> 
> Yeah…so like, did I ever voice certain pet peeves of mine I have regarding the concept of fem!Naruto? For one thing, it bugs me with the lack of spiky hair, because I feel that should be consistent with any Naruto, unless otherwise. Name changes from Naruto to Naruko (or any other name that isn't Naruto) also bother me because the name came from Jiraiya and actual naruto, which is a ramen topping that connects back to Naruto, due to his love for it. Like…it's because of that that Jiraiya is Naruto's godfather and just…yeah…
> 
> I have a lot more pet peeves to list, but I'm gonna space them out for the sake of giving space to breathe. In any case, this fem!Naruto has Kushina's red hair and violet eyes, while still keeping Minato's spiky hair. She also has Minato's eye shape, so unlike canon Naruto, who inherited Kushina's eyes, SI!Naruto, here, has Minato's eyes. SI!Naruto ALSO has her mother's childhood chubbiness, which has earned her the nickname, "Tomato."
> 
> Hence, the joking title, Tomato 2: Electric Boogaloo.
> 
> ANYWAYS, here you have another instance of me writing a child Sasuke as someone who lacks tact and isn't that much of a shit as he is when he's 12/13. He's only four, after all, and he still has his family. Itachi hasn't traumatized him, either, so yeah…whether or not Sasuke ends up developing the way he did in Butterfly Child or going the way of his canon counterpart is something we'll just have to see, considering this is just the first chapter to Que Será, Será.
> 
> Que Será, Será, by the way, means, "Whatever will be, will be" and it does come from the song by Doris Day. Many thanks to UnstableFable for helping me out by contributing lyrics the instant I suggested Que Será, Será as a title for this fic.
> 
> And because I know it's inevitable, feel free to ship to your heart's content, because I'm always up for a round of the shipping games! By the by, SI!Fem!Naruto, like all of my other SI/SIOCs is asexual (lack of sexual attraction), has ADHD, and is totally not straight (panromantic and has an extreme weakness for aesthetically attractive people). A lot like me, yeah…if you're uncomfortable with this, feel free to drop this story and any others I will write. I have no time for heteronormativity.
> 
> That's about it for now, so I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Until next time, everyone!


	2. Scarf

It hasn't been that long since Teuchi has met Naruto—maybe two months at the very least. That's all the owner of Ichiraku Ramen can think as he watches the spiky-haired redhead demolish a large bowl of shio ramen with great gusto. He's smiling, because Naruto is enjoying herself so much—she always does, whenever she eats at his shop.

"Can I get another bowl-ttebayo?!" Naruto asks as she sets her empty bowl on the counter. She looks at Teuchi with such a wide smile on her chubby face.

Teuchi chuckles at her enthusiasm. "Sure you can—same as before?"

Naruto nods her head. "Uh-huh—the same size, too!"

It amazes Teuchi that someone so small could eat so much without getting sick. It's such a stark contrast to the children he's seen dining in with their parents, who struggle to even work through a medium-sized bowl. Even his eight-year-old daughter, Ayame, struggles to eat much more than that. But not Naruto—she always finishes what she orders.

Teuchi likes that aspect of Naruto. She reminds him of his most favorite customers. More specifically, she reminds him of those whom were no longer alive. He really can't ignore her red hair—he knows that distinctive shade. He knows it very well, alongside the name of Uzumaki. As Teuchi prepares Naruto's order, he remembers a family—a mother, a father, and twin daughters—that once ate together at his shop. They were refugees of Uzushiogakure, a village that now existed in ruins.

He remembers them well, because of how small the family had become in such a short period of time. He has come to expect this from those living the shinobi life. After all, he has had many customers who were shinobi. Sometimes, they never returned from a mission. That had happened more often than he was comfortable with, during the Second and Third Shinobi World War.

"Hey, hey—can I get an extra boiled egg this time-ttebayo?!" Naruto eagerly asks with sparkling eyes.

"Would you like extra naruto with that as well?" Teuchi half-jokingly adds. He knows how much Naruto likes that particular topping on her ramen. So he isn't that surprised when she nods her head rather vigorously. "Alright!"

Naruto is such an unpopular ramen topping that he appreciates anyone who shows a favorable attitude towards it. Teuchi feels that it is only appropriate that a child who shares her name with the topping considers it her most favorite. He feels the same way in regards to her preference for shio ramen.

" _They are so much alike…"_ Teuchi smiles wistfully when he recalls the remaining member of that red-haired family. It has only been four years since Uzumaki Kushina has died, which is about how old Naruto is. Like the red hair, it's hard for Teuchi to ignore what's right in front of his face.

The same could be said about the identity of Naruto's father. Quite a number of people died on the day Naruto was born…but Teuchi knows better. The spiky hair might be easy to excuse, as it isn't an uncommon sight in Konoha. The eyes, however…are a completely different story—Teuchi knows those eyes. He's seen them on a blond-haired man with hair just as spiky as Naruto's and skin the same ochre color as hers.

It's also quite hard to forget the memory Teuchi has of a blushing, blond-haired man standing next to a heavily pregnant Kushina. Teuchi remembers it well, because a then four-year-old Ayame held her hand over Kushina's stomach, completely mesmerized by the kicking unborn baby. It's such a fond memory Teuchi has of Namikaze Minato, the late Yondaime Hokage.

"Is it ready yet?" Naruto excitedly asks as she bounces up and down in her seat. Her hands balled up into tiny, shaking fists.

Teuchi chuckles as he sets down the bowl in front of Naruto. Afterwards, he can't help but reach out and ruffle the spiky, red hair. "Enjoy!"

"Thanks for the food!" Naruto doesn't wait another second and digs into her bowl.

It truly amazes Teuchi with how quickly Naruto has improved. It's hard to believe that she once had issues speaking, fumbling over the simplest of words. It helps that Ayame took it upon herself to help Naruto when she unintentionally embarrassed the redhead for speaking such rough, short-worded sentences. Teuchi has helped out as well, in Ayame's absence while she was at school or just in general, when Ayame couldn't.

At the current moment, Ayame is absent from the shop. Teuchi had her fetch some of her old winter clothing from home. Winters in Konohagakure can get incredibly cold. Sometimes, though not very often, it snows and, from the looks of it, it's going to snow this year. Teuchi has lived long enough in Konoha to know the signs of a snowy winter.

Teuchi has no idea if Naruto has any clothes for the winter. She's dressed somewhat warmly right now, with a long-sleeved shirt underneath her t-shirt. Although, she could do much better if she wore a pair of pants and shoes, instead of shorts and sandals. He can at least tell that she doesn't buy her clothes—they're not new enough to warrant such an assumption.

It saddens Teuchi to know of the lonely life Naruto lives. She only has him and Ayame, when she's so isolated from everyone else. Teuchi has considered adopting her, but his life is busy enough as is, being a single parent caring for his only daughter while running Ichiraku Ramen with minimal to no help.

The most he can do now is provide Naruto service with a warm smile, when everyone else ignores her. It's not much, but to Naruto…it goes a long way to keeping that smile on her face.

…

…

Some days, Naruto has difficulty getting out of bed. Today is no different, when she wakes up from a dream where she is pretty sure someone was telling her, "I love you."

" _What…the hell?"_ Naruto yawns loudly as she stretches her arms. There is a chill in the air that she notices almost instantly. She shudders and after a few sniffs, she sneezes. _"Freaking hell!"_

Naruto dives down under her blankets and curls up into a little ball. She gets comfortable far too easily. She's already rejected the idea of ever getting out of bed, because it's fucking cold, the floor is probably freezing, and she is not at all dressed for this sort of temperature. Leave it to her shitty apartment's heating to crap out on her when it's most inconvenient to her…

" _The old man's gonna be hearing from me…"_ That is assuming Naruto doesn't forget to pay the Sandaime Hokage a visit, because she has a very shoddy memory (courtesy of her _lovely_ ADHD). She also has little to no interest in going out today, because her bed is far too comfortable (and warm) to leave.

_Growl._

" _You wanna fucking go, hunger?!"_ Naruto can do this all day! Because all it takes for her to ignore her own hunger, is just to fall asleep…too bad she can't go back to sleep. "Murr…"

It takes less than half an hour before Naruto finally caves in to her growling stomach and leaves the warmth and comfort of her own bed. Her bare feet last only a few seconds against the cold floorboards, to which Naruto completely nopes the fuck back into her bed, because _fuck_ **that**.

" _Why is it so cold?!"_ Naruto wraps herself quite tightly with her blankets, shivering as she tries to regain her lost warmth. She doesn't recall it ever being _this_ cold last winter… Then again, she is living on her own now and not at the orphanage…

She also doesn't recall it ever fucking snowing _either_ , as she **finally** notices what's been in front of her face the entire time (in a way), through her window.

" _The fuck is this shit?!"_ Naruto is not used to seeing snow in real life. Living a past life in a small town in southern California, where it rarely _ever_ snows, can do that to a person. It only snowed once in that small town, when she was four years old…like she is now. _"Okay, that's a bit too coincidental for my tastes…did I forget to close the blinds?"_

Well… _that_ explains why the room is much colder than usual… In hindsight, _maybe_ she should have closed her blinds before she crashed for the night…

" _Whatever…"_ Naruto decides she's going back to sleep, because she feels that it's too early to deal with anything right now.

_Growl._

Too bad her growling stomach reminds her of the current problem at hand. Muttering a few swears under her breath, Naruto gets out of bed for a second time and makes a mad dash for the kitchen. She swears loudly at no one, using words she had learned in the short amount of time she has been alive. If anyone is to blame for this, it's the people that Naruto has been around, because she sure as hell didn't know it on her own, because Japanese (which is the language spoken in this world) wasn't part of the languages she knew from her past life.

It does not help that she picks up on swears quite easily, because growing up with a Mexican mother does that to a person. So many swears…it's no wonder Naruto barely has a filter on her own language.

_Not that it even matters…_

Naruto is polite when she wants to be, which she usually is, whenever she interacts with Teuchi and Ayame. Everyone else can go take a hike (including a certain pair of Uchiha brothers…), because Naruto does not have time for them. She's living the life of a broke-ass college student, eating nothing but instant ramen (and whatever cheap, instant food she could obtain). The irony is not lost on her, because Naruto did not live this sort of life in the past, for she was still living with her parents (it's not as if she had anywhere else to go, with the university being only half an hour away from home).

Naruto sighs loudly as she waits for the water to boil in her electric kettle (certain technology either exists or it doesn't—Naruto is completely fine with keeping it at that). She rests her head on the table, her gaze focused on the cup of ramen that's in front of her. She might have once laughed at her blond canon counterpart's introduction in the anime and manga, regarding his dislike for the amount of time it takes to make a cup of ramen. She regrets ever doing so, because this is now her life. It's an absolute pain in the ass and there's not much she can do about it. _"It sucks being four…"_

One of these days, she is going to try and make herself some actual food. Today is just not that day, because Naruto can't find the motivation to even try. It takes Naruto a few hours to even find the motivation to change out of her pajamas. Unlike the previous days, she changes into the winter clothes that Ayame had given her the other day. She is very much pleased to see that they fit her (her face isn't the only part of her body that's chubby).

"Awesome-ttebayo!" Naruto grins widely as she adjusts the red scarf that came along with the outfit she now wears. She is no longer cold and feels pleasantly warm. She likes this feeling… _"It's nice!"_

Naruto laughs for a few seconds and then stops when an idea crosses her mind. Her gaze is focused on her window. She has yet to close the blinds, so she can see that snowflakes are falling. Her cheeks heat up with a light blush as a wide grin crosses her face. She nods her head and runs out of her room. She's going outside, she decides, so that she can play in the snow. She's always wanted to make a snowman…because she never got a chance to, in her past life.

_Snowflakes falling on your face,_

_A cold wind blows away._

Naruto's giggling when she leaves the apartment building. She is smiling so widely, her cheeks are beginning to hurt. There is so much snow…it's been far too long for her. So she runs—she runs as fast as she can, despite how much she hates running. She wants to see as much as she can of Konoha, while it's covered in snow.

_The laughter from this treasured place,_

_But in our memories it stays._

Some weeks pass, and the snow continues to stay. Naruto has figured out her favorite locations to play. She is, of course, alone, since most of the children avoid her. She doesn't mind, though. She's having too much fun on her own…or so she thinks, until she catches sight of groups of children interacting with each other just outside of the Academy building.

_There sure are a lot of children today…_

Naruto is used to seeing the Academy empty during this time of year. It's winter break for current Academy students. Or so she has heard, from the looks of it. She shrugs and decides not to think much about it. It's not as if she could anything about it, either. She's too distinctive to blend in, with her red hair and whiskered cheeks. She's also far too anxious of how their parents would react to her presence…

" _Don't feel like getting yelled at today, thank you very much…"_ Naruto nods her head as she decides to play out of sight while she waits for everyone to leave. It shouldn't take too long, anyways…hopefully.

…

…

"Hey Hyuuga girl, show us your Byakugan!"

Hyuuga Hinata had never meant to drift so far away from her cousin, Neji.

"If you can't, then just get lost!"

She just wanted to play in the snow…that's all. Today is the first time in nearly a year that she has left the Hyuuga clan compound.

"Your eyes are creepy…"

It is also enrollment day at the Academy, where she'll be attending come this spring.

"Yeah, a Byakugan monster!"

But it seems that today, nothing wants to go right for Hyuuga Hinata. Neji still refuses to talk to her. Everyone is still so cautious around her at the compound, because she hasn't spoken in almost a year. And right now, she's being picked on by a group of boys who have nothing better to do, than make fun of her clan's distinctive white eyes. She can't even find the courage to stand up for herself…

" _Because I'm so weak,"_ she thinks as tears weld up in her eyes. _"I should have just stayed with Neji-nii-sama…"_

If she hadn't wandered off, then maybe she wouldn't be in this situation…

"Aww, is the Byakugan monster crying?" mocks one of the boys. A harsh tug at her scarf comes from him. "Hey—I'm talking to you!"

If she was a little stronger, then maybe she could stand up for herself.

"Say something, you monster!" the same boy yells at her. He tugs even harder at her scarf and manages to pull it off.

Hinata sniffs and rubs at her eyes. She wants to say something—how badly she wants her scarf back, because her mother knitted it for her. She opens her mouth, but nothing comes out.

"Hey, I don't think she can talk!" Hinata finds herself getting shoved to the ground by another of the boys, who does it in order to prove his point. And he does, because she continues to stay silent, despite how hurt and afraid she is.

"As if she wasn't creepy enough already!" the last of the boys exclaims before he starts an impromptu game of tug of war, using Hinata's scarf, with the boy who's holding onto it. "Hey, if you don't want us to ruin your scarf, all you gotta do is say something!"

Hinata's eyes are wide as she watches the boys stretch the cream-colored fabric of her scarf. She opens her mouth to say something—anything—but still, nothing comes out. The boys are starting to enjoy themselves much more than Hinata thinks they should as they continue to stretch out her scarf as far as it can go. They're doing whatever they can to her scarf, and here she is, doing nothing…

Her eyes are burning with hot tears. She feels so frustrated, so conflicted, so… _angry_. She's angry with herself for not being strong enough. Because…because…because—most of her problems wouldn't exist, if she wasn't so weak.

" _If I was stronger…"_ Hinata sniffs. _"Hizashi-sama would still be alive."_

And maybe then, Neji would talk to her. Maybe then…she wouldn't be so quiet, as she is now.

" _I deserve this,"_ she starts to think as she wipes away her tears. _"It's all my fault…"_

Hinata only has herself to blame, as she watches the boys damage her scarf beyond repair. She is seconds away from fully accepting that fact…when a chubby, spiky-haired girl her age dashes in and punches the leader of the group—the boy with the red cap, who had taken her scarf from her—right in the face. Blood spurts out of his nose and he's sent to the ground, where another of the boys quickly joins him after getting a switch kick to the crotch. The last of the boys, much larger in size than the other two, barely has time to react before a harsh blow to the stomach sends him back, landing on both of his friends.

Hinata is absolutely stunned, as she watches the spiky-haired girl take advantage of the boys' currently helpless state. Her eyes quickly key in on the girl's red hair—she's never seen such a color before. She's used to seeing differing shades of dark hair at her home, in the Hyuuga compound. She notices that the girl's hair matches the scarf she's wearing…

" _Red…"_ Like the color of blood that covers her fists… "S-Strong…"

A small gasp leaves Hinata's mouth when she realizes that, for the first time in almost a year, sound has left her mouth.

"You think it's funny to pick on someone like her, dattebayo?!" the spiky-haired redhead growls. She looks so mad, pulling off the scarves from the boys' necks. Unlike them, she doesn't do anything to damage their scarves—instead, she uses them to tie their legs together, so that they struggle to move away from her when they finally come to. She does this after wiping off the blood on her hands with one of the scarves, of course.

The boys stumble over their tied up legs as they tried to get as far away as possible from the red-haired girl, who looks down at them as if they were mere ants. She snorts when they call her a monster. She scowls when one of them refers to her as a tomato.

"I'll show you who's a tomato if you don't get out of my sight-ttebayo!" Her threat is enough to send the boys scampering off the instant they untie the scarves wrapped around their legs. As soon as they are completely out of sight, she turns to Hinata, looking at her with a much softer expression. "Hey—are you okay?"

Hinata blinks and opens her mouth to say something, but nothing comes out—not because she can't, but because she doesn't know what to say. She doesn't know what to say to the red-haired girl with gentle tan skin and whisker-kissed cheeks. The girl's violet eyes remind Hinata of the flowers she presses. They're even prettier than flowers, Hinata thinks.

"You don't have to say anything…" the girl reassures Hinata. "Here—let me help you."

Hinata blinks again and just nods her head. She accepts the hand that's outstretched to her. It's so warm against hers, so solid and safe… Soon enough, Hinata is off the ground, finding discomfort in how much colder her hand is when she releases the girl's hand. She takes a moment to wipe off the snow on herself before looking at the red-haired girl who defended her. "Th-Thank you…"

"It's no problem-ttebayo!" The red-haired girl smiles widely at her. "Sorry about your scarf, though…"

"Oh…" is all Hinata can say she when she looks down to see what remains of her scarf. While still in one piece, it has certainly seen better days and she doubts that her mother will be able to fix it… "It's f-fine…"

"No it isn't!" the red-haired girl insists. "What they did to you isn't right-ttebayo!"

Hinata almost wants to protest, but the red-haired girl holds up a hand and she stops almost instantly. She's rather confused, furrowing her brows when she sees the red-haired girl removing her red scarf. "Wh-What are you…?"

"Here!" The red-haired girl wraps her scarf around Hinata's neck. She grins widely afterwards and happily exclaims, "Now we match-ttebayo!"

Hinata feels her face heating up with a blush that colors her pale skin red. She feels her heart skipping a beat when she hears the girl start to laugh, saying that they match even more now. And she's right, Hinata thinks as she looks at the girl's red hair.

" _She's so pretty…"_ The girl is more like a flower than a tomato… "U-Um…"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" the girl introduces herself. "And you?"

"H-Hyuuga Hinata…" It's been a while since Hinata has said her own name. It feels so weird, coming from her own mouth… "Thank you again, U-Uzumaki-san…"

"Just Naruto is fine—if it's alright if I can call you Hinata, that is?" Naruto twiddles her fingers quite nervously.

Hinata blinks a few times and then smiles. It's nice to see that she and this red-haired girl share some similarities. "It's f-fine…Naruto-chan."

"Heehee!" A light blush heats up Naruto's cheeks. "You're so cute!"

Hinata bites her lip when her face turns an even darker shade of red. Beads of sweat are rolling down the sides of her face and she swears that if her heart beats any faster, it'll explode within her chest. She feels a little dizzy, but mostly—she feels so _happy_.

"Hinata-sama!" a voice calls out to her.

"O-Oh…" Hinata realizes that it's her cousin, who has probably now noticed her absence from his side. "I…have to…"

"I understand!" Naruto gives Hinata a thumbs-up.

"C-Can we…can we m-meet again?" Hinata doesn't want this to be the last time she talks to Naruto.

Naruto nods her head. "Of course, dattebayo!"

Hinata gives Naruto one last smile before running off to join Neji, who asks about her whereabouts while she was gone. He's talking to her again, she notices, as he looks her over for any abnormalities.

"What's that?" he asks, his eyes focused on the red scarf around her neck.

Hinata finds herself placing a hand on her scarf. It's so soft and comfortable—with a scent that she feels best represents the embodiment of sunshine and summer (and maybe even ramen). "A g-gift?"

"A gift—Hinata-sama, you're!" It takes Neji a moment, but he's rather quick to realize his cousin is talking again. He has no idea what to make of this, since he's still confused about the red scarf that has replace the one Hinata was wearing previously. After all, her mother had knitted it for her as a birthday present for her fourth birthday, which was a few days ago. "You're…"

"I'm t-talking again?" Hinata can't help but smile as she says this. "I g-guess I am…"

The stutter in her voice is rather new, but she's not complaining—neither is Neji, who seems a bit relieved. Despite how often Neji has shown his dislike for her presence, Hinata can tell that, deep down, he cares for her. He's still hurting, though…so it'll take time for him to heal. She's still healing, too.

" _And that's fine…"_ she thinks.

Hinata laughs when Neji stiffens, seconds after her hand grabs onto his. His hand is warm, too…but she finds herself thinking about Naruto. She wants to meet up with her soon…so that they can talk again. So that Hinata can learn more about Naruto. What she likes, dislikes, loves—Hinata wants to know everything.

For now, she is content with the scarf that is wrapped around her neck. Today is a good day, she thinks, despite how bad it had gotten when those boys had picked on her. She has Naruto to thank for that…

On the way back to the Hyuuga clan compound, Neji finds himself listening to Hinata go on and on about the girl who had given her the red scarf. He finds out what happened to the scarf Himawari (Hinata's mother) had knitted—about the boys who had picked on Hinata. But mostly, he, as well as Hiashi, who is listening quite intently because his daughter is talking again, hears of the red-haired girl by the name of Uzumaki Naruto.

Hyuuga Hiashi thinks nothing of the child his daughter mentions, despite how uncomfortable his nephew looks. Neji is uncomfortable, because Uzumaki Naruto is the child everyone avoids…everyone, but Hinata, from the looks of it, from how enchanted she is with the girl's existence. He's been told to avoid Naruto as well, so he feels nervous towards what punishment he'll receive for allowing Hinata to wander off.

"You did nothing wrong," Hiashi reassures his nephew. "Just be more careful next time."

"Y-Yes, Hiashi-sama…" Neji nods stiffly. He tries not to show it, but he is just so relieved. His face turns a brilliant shade of red when Hinata lightly prods him in the side and tells him to smile. She's a bit too talkative for his comfort (he's still so used to her being so silent), despite her stutter…

Hiashi welcomes the stutter, because at the very least, his daughter is talking again. _"Himawari will be pleased…"_

"Otou-sama, c-can I invite Naruto-chan over?" Hinata suddenly asks.

Hiashi thinks for a moment. He knows his word has more power over anyone's at the compound. Whatever he says goes…and when he sees the wide smile on his daughter's face (so happy, so… _hopeful_ ), he finds himself unable to say no. "You may."

Hiashi regrets nothing when Hinata, in her moment of happiness, wraps her arms around his legs (she's so small…) and nearly trips him.

* * *

 Baby's First Crush (art doodle by me)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, have another chapter from me, because I have no idea why, but this fic is all I have on my mind and before you guys ask, YES, Hinata does in fact have a crush on Naruto. She's not confused and if you think of it that way, then you're in for a bad time because I ain't getting rid of a canon crush just because Naruto happens to be a girl in this fic.
> 
> Made this chapter extremely gay for a reason (had help from writing comrade kurobook), so as to drive in the point that Hinata's got a crush and Hiashi is completely fine with it, too (he can tell it's a crush, btw).
> 
> MOVING ON, like…I don't know about you, but when it comes to Hinata, considering the fact that she was involved in an incident with Kumogakure when they tried to kidnap her…I pretty much doubt that she left that incident without any sort of trauma on her. Which is why she hasn't spoken in almost a year, because of the trauma. Alongside that, she also blames herself for the fact that Neji's father had to die. The stutter is a side effect to her now that she has regain her ability to speak.
> 
> As an FYI, this is pretty much how Hinata was in Butterfly Child as well, prior to meeting Chōko…because as I said before, my fics character and world building are connected, minus the SI OCs themselves (one SI OC per fic). And by the by, I suggest you guys go check out Butterfly Child because I have edited and expanded on the first sixteen chapters, so some new stuff has been added and whatnot.
> 
> Also, if you guys are wondering about the Uzumaki family with twin daughters…if you've read Metamorphosis, you guys would know about Kushinada, who is Kushina's older twin sister…yeah, she's part of the bunch of OCs that I made to exist in this world. Really hope you don't take her too personally, as a reviewer from fanfiction.net had with her and the other of my OCs in Metamorphosis. Like…I have a lot of OCs, you're gonna have to get used to this because sometimes, it's hard to get away without using any in a Naruto fic.
> 
> And if you haven't picked up on it, Naruto HAS had some issues speaking Japanese, as a result of her being isolated from others. This is pretty much something that could potentially happen to an SI!Naruto. Thankfully, this Naruto has Teuchi and Ayame. Do keep in mind some of the issues Naruto has had in Butterfly Child, because chances are, it'll apply to this Naruto.
> 
> I'm kinda sad that no one hasn't explored the possibilities that can come out with a red-haired Naruto. And with QSS!Naruto (this Naruto), who has a different appearance than her canon counterpart, she takes after her father more, with her mother's distinct hair and eye coloration making her parentage stand out even more. Canon!Naruto inherited his mother's face, with his father's eye color and spiky, blond hair. QSS!Naruto (this Naruto) has her father's face (just with her mother's childhood chubbiness), as well as his spiky hair and skin tone (btw, that's the skin tone I headcanon Naruto and Minato with after seeing awesome fan art of Naruto—so they're not fair-skinned like Kushina).
> 
> The result of this gives you Teuchi being very much aware of who Naruto's parents are, especially if you've seen ending 34 of Naruto Shippuden that focuses on Ichiraku Ramen. Like, seriously—there is a scene with Minato and Kushina and just…it's better if you look it up and see it for yourself. And it doesn't help that this Naruto, due to being a self-insert, has a preference for shio ramen (because I like shio ramen—it's great), which she shares with Kushina, whose favorite food is shio ramen.
> 
> This is about all I have for now, and just to bring mention of the shipping games…Sasuke/Naruto and Itachi/Naruto HAVE been suggested. And because I am noticing an interesting trend in the Butterfly Child shipping poll results…might I suggest the harem option (because that IS an option on the Butterfly Child shipping poll on fanfiction.net, as a result of popular demand) just for the hell of it? It's just a suggestion, because I'm gonna say it right now, I have no set pairing for this fic, so it's gonna be a long and wacky journey.
> 
> So until next time, everyone!


	3. ANBU-san

Hatake Kakashi is eighteen years old when he starts reconsidering his life choices for the umpteenth time. He reconsiders it as he interacts with a fellow ANBU acquaintance of his, while the two are hiding in plain sight on the rooftop to an apartment. His acquaintance stands at a height much shorter than his is, with ultramarine hair that cascades down to her hips. He considers it a hazard, she tells him to mind his own business.

They are former classmates reunited under the most unusual of circumstances. While she is absolutely delighted, Kakashi is…less than amused. Especially with how much Maneki Neko likes to tease.

"Wan-wan!" she lightheartedly barks at him before tapping on his mask. Although her face is obscured behind a white mask resembling that of a calico cat, Kakashi can tell she's smiling.

Kakashi rolls his eyes and wonders what exactly it was about Maneki Neko that had made her a vital prospect to ANBU in the eyes of Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage. He deliberately ignores the fact that Maneki Neko had caught him completely by surprise just now, heightened senses be damned. He blames the snow…

"How was your day, Inushi?" Rather than calling him Hound, Maneki Neko gives him a nickname she deems much more fitting. "Did you enjoy your short time out of the cold while I was stuck watching the Hyuuga Heiress develop a crush on Namikaze's kid?"

" _Well…that's new,"_ Kakashi thinks. He certainly doesn't expect it. "Is that what happened while I was out?"

"More or less—it's what stands out to me the most." Maneki Neko has a slight aversion to anything remotely romantic. It isn't because she hates romance—she just doesn't get it. She never has and she's content with the idea that she never will. "Have any issues enrolling the Tomato into the Academy?"

"Fortunately, no…" Kakashi is quite thankful for that. "Just time consuming."

"There sure are a lot of applicants this year!" Maneki Neko chirps as she balls up her hands into fists. She's practically shaking with giddiness. "I give them half a year before the numbers go down a considerable lot."

"My, that's generous," Kakashi deadpans.

"You think so?" And Kakashi's sarcasm completely flies over Maneki Neko's head. "It was a lot different with us, back when we were in Shimura Nene's class. When everyone was divided up by skill…"

"During times of peace, there shouldn't be much reason to have students graduating so early." Kakashi notes that it'll probably take longer for Academy students to become Genin.

"Riiiight…" Maneki Neko nods her head. "I heard that they've combined all the kunoichi classes for this occasion."

"Is that so?" Kakashi isn't one to take interest in kunoichi-related studies. For him, it isn't required…but for Uzumaki Naruto… "It sure is going to suck for her."

"Pffft, yeah, it sure is!" Maneki Neko laughs a little too loud for comfort. She's not loud enough to catch anyone's attention, but just loud enough to grate on Kakashi's sensitive ears. "Say…when are you gonna break the news to her?"

Before Kakashi can even say anything, a loud scream cuts him off. He flinches, as the sound penetrates the confines of the apartment room it's coming from. It's _that_ loud and the screams just keep coming and coming. One angry shriek right after another—it must have been a particularly bad day for Naruto.

"Oooh, looks like the Tomato's having another fit." Maneki Neko's instant reaction to the loud noise is to crouch down and cover her ears. "Mind taking over for me? I…need a moment…"

"Sure." It isn't the first time this has happened, after all. Today is just another day, where he, as Hound, and Maneki Neko continue with their assigned task of watching over Uzumaki Naruto. "Take as long as you need."

It disturbs Kakashi with how easily he can withstand the screams without feeling the need to check up on Naruto. He knows she's completely fine—she's just having another meltdown. So long as no one is physically harming her, he has no need to interfere (or so he's been told). He wonders if he should, once the screams turn into frustrated sobs.

He decides against it when he goes to check up on Naruto once her sobs had gotten quieter. He's not at all surprised to find her in bed when he looks through the window (once again, she forgot to pull down her blinds). As mentioned before, this isn't the first time it has happened.

" _And it probably won't be the last, either…"_ Kakashi feels a slight pang in his chest. He ignores it as he returns to Maneki Neko's side and helps her stand up. He tries to change the subject by bringing up a close friend of Maneki Neko's. He is successful with his attempt, but it doesn't get rid of the emptiness he now feels.

_Minato-sensei…Kushina-san…_

He was supposed to have helped them raise Naruto… Now he's stuck watching over her from the shadows.

_Rin…_

She would have loved Naruto…

_Obito…_

It frustrates Kakashi so much that he never noticed how he truly felt about the deceased Uchiha until it was far too late to say anything. Rin knew…she always knew… She was always so perceptive, after all. So observant…that Kakashi was actually envious.

He still is…and he doubts he'll ever stop being envious. No matter how much time passes, these feelings he still has…will probably linger. The nightmares sure have…

_Otou-san…_

As have his regrets…

_I want them back…_

He wants them all back…so that he can apologize. So that he can confess. So that he can finally move on from this never-ending nightmare that is his life. So that the loneliness that comes from being the only one left behind ( _lonelylonely_ _ **solonely**_ ) can disappear.

_If only I were more fortunate…_

Too bad he's not. He's Hatake Kakashi and his life is a goddamn mess.

…

…

Time passes and night soon falls, as it usually does during the winter, where the days are much shorter than the night. It's going to be a long night, Kakashi thinks as he leans back into Bull. It has gotten cold enough to where Kakashi has felt the need to summon some of his ninken for warmth. As he keeps his guard up, Maneki Neko lowers hers as she takes to messing with Pakkun's paw pads.

For ANBU, they aren't exactly acting like professionals. Such behavior is expected from Maneki Neko, but not Kakashi. He blames Maneki Neko for how laidback he has become, for the way she compensates through her meticulous use of genjutsu and shadow clones. He has grown far too comfortable with a mission he'd usually treat so seriously. It's not that he isn't serious—he still is.

It's more that Kakashi is allowing himself to interact, when he'd usually be so withdrawn. He guesses he also has Maneki Neko to blame for that—for being so persistent in getting him to interact with her. It took some time, but eventually, she succeeded.

" _How lucky…"_ Kakashi wonders if this is how it was Maneki Neko had earned her name after being known as Bobtail and Calico for quite some time. _"Seems appropriate…"_

It would explain the high rate of succession whenever Maneki Neko is around…

"Hey…I know this isn't exactly appropriate and I'm sorry if I sound insensitive, buuut…Iwai misses him, too…" Maneki Neko is not known for her ability to empathize—she struggles with it. Even so, she still tries and Kakashi, for all that has happened to him, appreciates it. "He's still jealous of you, for how close you were to that Uchiha."

"Is that so…?" Kakashi manages to huff a laugh as he recalls the Jounin of Kirigakure descent. "Ahaha…so he never moved on?"

"I dunno…have you ever moved on from Namikaze?" Maneki Neko laughs when Kakashi suddenly sputters. "I guess there's your answer!"

Kakashi is extremely glad for his mask, for how it hides his face while it burns red from embarrassment. He finds it rather unfair that Takemi Tae can easily recognize romantic love for someone who doesn't experience romantic attraction. For as much praise as he has gotten, for being a prodigy, Kakashi still feels there is a lot more that he has to learn.

It is moments like these that only manage to prove his point.

…

…

As the sky begins to brighten with the arrival of dawn, Tae takes a moment to yawn and stretch her arms. It is during this that Kakashi suddenly speaks to her, mere minutes after dismissing his ninken.

"His name is Obito," Kakashi tells her. "He's not just some Uchiha…"

Tae stares for a moment before she laughs. "I know…I just wanted to see if you still remembered."

"And I do." Which is why he said it.

…

…

It's nine in the morning when Naruto finally wakes up. She stares at the ceiling for a good fifteen minutes before realizing that she forgot to close the blinds again. She lets out an aggravated sigh, but does nothing other than that. Her head hurts…and she feels like absolute shit.

_I fucked up…_

That's all Naruto can really think as yesterday's events flood her head. She remembers everything all too clearly, when she wishes she didn't. She remembers Hyuuga Hinata, who she was quite happy to meet initially…until it had occurred to her that the sense of déjà vu she had felt when she defended Hinata from those assholes was more than just that.

It was real.

_So, so real…_

She should have recognized it, too—but she didn't. Because of all the times to forget about _Naruto The Last_ , it had to be when she was literally living out one of the opening scenes to that film. It wasn't exactly a pleasant revelation she had when she realized that her actions had caused the exact deviations she was trying to avoid. It only got worse from there, when her train of thought continued to spiral into the massive wreck that had caused her meltdown.

Shit's rather awkward when Naruto actually stops to think about Boruto and Himawari—her canon counterpart's _children_. Like, fuck—what's gonna happen to _them_?! Naruto sure as hell doesn't know and she feels it's too damn early for her to have another meltdown. So she decides to stop thinking about it…

_Growl._

And focus on her current issue: Hunger.

" _Maybe today…yeah…"_ Naruto decides that today will be the day she tries to make something to eat, other than instant ramen. It gives her something to do and it certainly seems distracting enough to keep her from thinking about the existence of her canon counterpart's children. _"Fried rice sounds good…"_

She's been craving it for quite some time now. Hopefully, she remembers how to cook it.

…

…

More than an hour has passed since Takemi Tae had left her position, which is why Kakashi is on his own for the next seven days. He sighs and decides to appreciate the silence while it lasts. And he does…until a burnt smell in the air makes his nose wrinkle in disgust.

" _What…the hell?"_ Kakashi doesn't like how close by the scent is. _"Oh god, it's her—isn't it?"_

Well, there's only one way for him to find out…

…

It takes Kakashi a moment to notice what's wrong as he looks through the opened window and sees Naruto doing a horrible job at cooking fried rice. _"That's really shitty fried ri—SHE'S TOSSING IT!"_

It takes him a moment, because that's when the fried rice suddenly bursts into flames and _Naruto is right there_. Kakashi doesn't even hesitate when he jumps through the window and enters the kitchen. He pulls Naruto as far away as possible from the portable stove before grabbing the pan of burning fried rice. He dumps the pan it into the sink and turns the faucet on.

Kakashi watches as the water puts out the flames. Four minutes pass before he turns the faucet off. He sighs inwardly in relief and turns to Naruto, who looks absolutely terrified.

"Wh-Who the hell are you, dattebayo?!" Naruto points a finger at him as she shrieks.

A small bead of sweat rolls down the side of Kakashi's face. "Umm…"

Well…this is awkward.

"I'll…just be going." Kakashi feels that it would be best if he left immediately. But before that, he decides to do Naruto a favor and throw away the mess in the kitchen sink. It's the least he can do for scaring the crap out of her with his sudden appearance.

But when Kakashi opens the trash bin, he finds that it's nearly full of empty containers of instant ramen. He stares at the trash bin for nearly a minute before asking out loud, "Did you eat all of that?"

Naruto sputters for a moment. "Y-Yeah—wh-what's wrong with that-ttebayo?!"

"Where do I even begin?" Kakashi looks at the cabinet above the sink and opens it. He is not at all surprised when he is greeted by the sight of numerous packages containing instant ramen. "I can tell you this…it's not healthy."

Kakashi knows this all too well, considering the harsh lecture Rin had once given Obito, which she later gave to him, because he had grown quite negligent of his wellbeing after Hatake Sakumo committed suicide. She was always so persistent in keeping an eye on the two of them, long before they were even a team. At the time, Kakashi found her behavior annoying…

But now…he understands why she did it. He understands all too clearly as he stares at Uzumaki Naruto. Because in her, he sees what Rin had once seen in both him and Obito—a lonely child struggling to live.

" _I can't leave her alone anymore…"_ Kakashi comes to that realization as he walks over to Naruto. He kneels down to her level and ruffles her spiky, red hair. "I'm sorry."

_I'm sorry for ignoring you for so long…_

"I should have introduced myself." Kakashi tries his best to keep his emotions in check as he ignores the way his eyes have begun to heat up with unshed tears. "You can call me Hound or ANBU-san…"

_I'm sorry…_

"And starting today, I'm taking over your kitchen." Kakashi's tone is disturbingly cheery, for someone who feels empty. "Now go get dressed."

"Wh-Wh-Wha…" Naruto has no idea what to even think.

…

…

Naruto has an extremely difficult time keeping herself from screaming as she watches Hound's back while he's cooking. She's sitting at the table, under direct orders from Hound. She's trying her hardest to ignore how familiar she finds his spiky, silver hair. She's trying, but failing…

" _That's fucking Kakashi, isn't it?"_ Naruto so desperately wants to give herself the benefit of the doubt—that it's not him. But her current track record of encounters would like to say otherwise. It's at least eight years too early for her to interact with Hatake Kakashi—but there he is, cooking her breakfast. _"This is so unreal…"_

She wants to cry.

_Why me?_

She _really_ wants to cry…

_This isn't fair…_

It takes every fiber of her being to stay strong when Hound sets the plate of food he had just finished cooking. He's made her omurice for breakfast. It looks good and even smells good—but she hesitates. She's just so _wary_ of what's in front of her.

_This isn't supposed to be happening…_

But it is.

"Eat up before it gets cold," Hound tells Naruto before ruffling her hair.

Naruto can't even find the energy to protest. She just stares at the food on her plate for a few more seconds and then reaches for the spoon. She scoops up a spoonful of the omurice and shoves it into her mouth. She chews slowly and then stops to swallow.

"How is it?" Hound asks.

Naruto's response is to continue eating, except at a faster pace. It's delicious, she wants to say…but she can't, because her mouth is full. And when it isn't, she finds that she can't stop eating as she shoves another spoonful of omurice into her mouth. It's been so long since she's eaten someone else's cooking.

And when she's finally done, she feels sad. She wants more, but she has no idea how to ask Hound. She's terrified at the idea that this is all an elaborate prank—that he'll yell at her when she least expects it.

_Growl._

But she's still hungry, so she pushes her plate towards him and says, in a very quiet voice, "M-More…"

Hound chuckles, but says nothing as he takes Naruto's empty plate. He doesn't regret cooking so much rice, although he feels that he ought to purchase a rice cooker for Naruto. Alongside that, he feels he needs to buy her more groceries to fill out the empty space in her refrigerator. There's a lot he has to do, but for now… _"This is a good start."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, guess who's out for summer? ME! Although, don't expect too much, since I'm currently obsessed with Kingdom Hearts Unchained x (chi) now that I've found a way to play it (if my tumblr has shown anything, with my recent posts). I am one with Unicornis, if you must know… Of course, I managed to take a break from the game to write this chapter!
> 
> I don't think anyone was expecting Kakashi to pop up so quickly, but like…yeah, here he is and shit's deviating, whether Naruto wants it or not. Also, many thanks to kurobook for that line about the shitty fried rice.
> 
> Moving on from there, anyone who's read Butterfly Child will know that Kakashi is the ANBU guard assigned to watch Naruto…well, one of two guards, as this story shows. Anyone who has read Butterfly Child and Metamorphosis will recognize aromantic OC, Takemi Tae. To give a brief definition of what that means about her, she doesn't experience romantic attraction…so romantic love isn't her thing, but that doesn't mean she can't love (not all love is romantic).
> 
> As for the name Maneki Neko, it means Beckoning Cat, which is a common Japanese figurine (lucky charm, talisman) which is often believed to bring good luck to the owner. The figurine depicts a cat, which is traditionally a calico Japanese Bobtail—hence the other names, Bobtail and Calico. So this is probably the first time where I've actually expanded on her character as an adult. Apart from being aromantic, she's also on the autism spectrum (if you guys didn't pick up on that either).
> 
> Hope you don't take her existence in this story too personally, as a reviewer in Metamorphosis did (it's a fanfiction.net thing, which is where this story is also posted). Like I said before, I have a lot of OCs…it's a thing, and alongside that, this chapter continues to prove what I mean when I say the world building and characters in my Naruto SI OCs stories are connected.
> 
> In case you guys didn't pick up on the implications, Kakashi had a crush on Namikaze Minato and Uchiha Obito. This is something that will forever be a constant in any Naruto fic I write (alongside the fact that Kakashi is asexual, which means he doesn't experience sexual attraction). There's more to it than just that, when it comes to Minato, but like…I'll get to that eventually. Just know this: Kakashi wasn't the only one who had a crush on Minato (the same can be said about Obito, because you have another of my OCs, Iwai, crushing on him too).
> 
> But yeah, basically, Kakashi isn't straight (he never was and his attraction isn't strictly on men, either), and let me just say this right now. No one in this fic is straight unless I say so… And I rarely ever say so. So yeah, this is what I mean when I say I have no time for heteronormativity. You can either take it or leave it, and feel free to drop the story if you're uncomfortable with this.
> 
> So anyways, Naruto's kinda prone to meltdowns, which she had after her encounter with Hinata. She's doing a bit better, so long as she doesn't think about Boruto and Himawari. Yeah, have fun thinking about the kids you might never have, which will do wonders when you have the freaking Boruto movie to worry about—of course, it's awkward enough thinking about the kids you could have, being only physically four. Shit's awkward, basically.
> 
> So like…the shipping games—SasuNaru and ItaNaru have received support (as has SasuItaNaru), and Gaara has been named, too. But I've also seen NaruHina support (and also a mention of SasuNaruHina) and of course, the harem suggestion has also been supported. Maybe I should say this now…I'm quite fine with writing a harem fic—hell, Apathy, my KHR SI fic IS a harem fic. I'm also a huge supporter of polyamory ships (which is what SasuItaNaru and SasuNaruHina will fall under), if the fact that I've mentioned it many times in Metamorphosis that the set pairing for the fic is a polyamorous one.
> 
> I'm up for any ships, so long as they're healthy and have chemistry (and oh boy, you won't get any romance from me until I HAVE that chemistry written). That being said, I've thought long enough on it…and I'm gonna go through with the harem. So the shipping games will continue as usual, because now the question lies: Who will be part of that harem?
> 
> The answer: It could be anyone, because gender isn't being taken into consideration—it's chemistry…so have fun!
> 
> That's about it for now, so until next time everyone!


	4. Hajimemashite

Naruto should have known that, being who she is, she'd have an ANBU guard watching her. It explains everything regarding Hound's actions on the day she first met him. Everything else that came after—she has no fucking clue, because this shouldn't be happening. It shouldn't…but it is, because Hound has decided that she can't be trusted to take care of herself. And really, she can't.

But it still doesn't make her feel any better, with how she keeps seeing Kakashi's face behind that mask. Denial has its limits and she has long since reached them. She still tries, because giving up is an option she'll only consider once she has exhausted herself.

It takes Naruto a _full_ seven days to realize that Hound isn't going to leave her alone. Seven days in which Hound has made her breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He refuses to let her eat any instant ramen, her cupboard now empty of any packages containing such. He also refuses to let her to skip out on any meals, as she had done previously due to her forgetful nature.

With a refrigerator full of recently bought groceries and a brand new rice cooker taking up a spot next to the portable stove, Naruto is at a complete loss for words when she tries to make something out of her situation. She hasn't spoken much since her first encounter with Hound. He doesn't speak much, either…but he still says something from time to time.

"Did you sleep well?" he begins to ask her each morning when he wakes her. No longer is Naruto allowed to sleep in. She is immensely annoyed, giving Hound the harshest glare she can manage while in such a drowsy state. She's not even sure she's looking right at him, because her vision is so blurry. And, for a brief moment, she _swears_ she can hear Hound chuckling before he ruffles her hair.

It's so unreal, Naruto thinks. But then she realizes just how _normal_ her situation has become once enough days have passed for everything to fall into routine (and for her to stop freaking out when she sees Hound's mask first thing every morning). Almost a month has passed since the day Hound had decided that he wasn't going to leave her alone—like _ever_. He is never too far out of sight, even on days when Naruto leaves her apartment.

It isn't the best decision he's made in quite a while, but Kakashi feels that it is the best he can do to help Naruto adjust to his presence. She's much safer in his presence, after all. So the Sandaime shouldn't have any reason to complain. Or so Maneki Neko has told him. She knows quite a lot about these things—she knows because she often makes use of the loopholes she can find.

It is something that Kakashi has picked up from her. It's not bad, he thinks as he helps Naruto take her clothes to the nearest laundromat. It certainly isn't bad, he later adds when he places a hand on Naruto's shoulder in his attempts to reassure her when he sees her stiffen. They aren't alone in the laundromat—there are other people doing their laundry.

For the most part, no one pays much attention to Naruto. They are too busy tending to their own business. That's how things usually are—it certainly feels that way for Kakashi, since this is part of his life during his days off. It should be the same for Naruto, but she is still so hesitant to be around others—namely, adults.

Kakashi notices how cautious Naruto is whenever she leaves his side for a few minutes. She is almost clingy…but then they leave the laundromat and almost immediately, Naruto returns to her usually distant self. She says nothing when he asks her about it and Kakashi decides that maybe it's too soon for him to pry too much into her life. He still has a ways to go, after all.

For now, this is fine. They're getting somewhere. They are certainly doing much better than they did when the two first began to interact. Naruto is finally breaking out of her nasty sleeping habits.

With a smile on his face that is hidden behind his mask, Kakashi takes a moment to ruffle Naruto's hair. She lets out an annoyed whine that almost makes him laugh.

_Baby steps…_

…

…

It's another day into a new month and Naruto is happily munching on the fried rice Hound has made her for lunch.

"You haven't been outside in a while," he says one day out of the blue.

Naruto is in the middle of eating the fried rice Hound has made her for lunch. She looks at him as she chews her food. Has it really been that long since she went outside?

_Didn't I go to the bathhouse to take a bath?_

Naruto certainly remembers doing that…a few days ago. Which is exactly how long it has been since she last went outside.

_Huh, I guess he's right…_

"Why don't you take a short walk today?" Hound suggests.

Naruto mulls over Hound's suggestion as she continues to chew. After a few seconds, she swallows and gives her response, "I bet that'll take twenty years off my life."

Sarcasm is the last thing Hound expects, but it is not exactly unwelcomed. Naruto is talking to him—rather comfortably at that—and she didn't exactly reject his suggestion.

" _Progress,"_ Hound certainly thinks.

Naruto leaves as soon as she is finished with her lunch. Hound is not at all worried when he watches her leave out the door. Maneki Neko is on the job, after all. Which gives him enough free time to do some cleaning now that Naruto is out and about. He starts off by grabbing Naruto's empty plate off the table and walking over to the kitchen sink to wash some dishes.

There aren't that many dishes to begin with, but Hound prefers to keep everything clean. Maybe one day he'll start urging Naruto to help out. Just not today, since he managed to convince Naruto to go take a short walk. It isn't much, but he knows from experience that it's a goddamn start.

…

…

Less than fifteen minutes have passed when Naruto returns home. She is greeted by the sight of Hound when she opens the door to her apartment. She doesn't say much when she closes the door behind her.

"Oh! That was re—" Hound never has a chance to finish his sentence because Naruto decides at that very moment to suddenly say, "The bet."

She says it all too seriously, as if she just had a realization. It raises a few questions that Hound wants to ask as he stares at Naruto. She looks over her shoulder at him, with a look on her face that makes her appear much older than she is.

"I've won…but at what cost?" Naruto was never one for being dramatic, but today, she feels that she is justified. She might have confused the hell out of Hound, but at the very least, she could make the most out of her situation. It's not every day that she can make jokes about her reincarnation so casually without even thinking about it. Her only lament is that, to anyone else but her, the joke won't make any sense.

_Whatever…_

Naruto isn't too disappointed…though she _is_ slightly chilly. Well, that's her fault for leaving without her jacket. At the very least, she is wearing leggings with her shorts, so it wasn't as cold as it _could_ have been for her when she was outside. Still… "Meh, I'm going to bed."

"Isn't it a little early for bed?" Hound doesn't even need to look at the clock to know that it is too damn early for Naruto to go to bed.

"I'm not going to sleep, I'm just cold." Although, Naruto can't guarantee that she won't fall asleep. It depends on how comfortable she gets. But otherwise, she just wants an excuse to stay under the covers and do nothing. "It's not as if I have anything better to do."

"Is that so?" Hound stares at Naruto for a moment before nodding his head. "Hey, have you taken a bath recently?"

Naruto feels her face heat up as she tries to avoid making any sort of eye contact with Hound. She doesn't feel like answering Hound's question. Partially because she's embarrassed to admit the truth and partially because she feels that it's none of his damn business.

"Ah, so you haven't." Not that it really matters, because Hound knows. He fucking _knows_. " _Well_ , then…"

"Huh?" It happened far too quickly for Naruto to even react, that it takes her a couple of seconds to process what had just happened. She blinks a few times, a small bead of sweat rolling down the side of her face when she notices that Hound's mask is mere centimeters away from her face. _"C-Close!"_

"We should probably fix that!" Hound's tone is disturbingly cheery as he gives Naruto's nose a light tap.

"Hmm…" Naruto makes a face, wanting nothing more than to tell Hound to screw off. And she would have, were it not for the fact that Hound currently has her dangling in the air by the back of her shirt.

"Maa, maa, don't make such a face—it's just a bath!" Hound gives Naruto's nose another light tap. "Now let's get going…"

In all honesty, Naruto feels as though she should have expected what would happen next. Too bad she didn't, because for a moment, she forgot that shinobi had various techniques to get them places. One such technique is the Shunshin no Jutsu, or the Body Flicker Technique. It just so happens to be the technique Hound used to take Naruto to the hot springs district.

Naruto can certainly see the convenience behind the technique for mundane uses. At the same time, she feels like throwing up from how _unpleasant_ that felt. She collapses to the ground when Hound finally puts her down.

"You'll get used to it," Hound reassures her.

Naruto huffs a laugh. How funny…Hound speaks as though there will be a next time— _"Wait…"_

It takes every fiber of her being to keep herself from slapping herself. Of _course_ there will be a next time—Hound will ensure that in some way or form.

"It might take a while, but don't let it keep you from using this technique in the future." There is also that. "It is quite useful."

" _Good to know that the shinobi life is in my future…"_ Naruto isn't even surprised. She expected it—she just doesn't know when. _"Whatever…"_

…

…

An elderly woman with faded blue hair greets Hound and Naruto when they enter the bathhouse. Her name is Izumi and she is the attendant who runs the bathhouse. "Just the two of you…?"

"Just this one." Hound gestures at Naruto. "Go on—get cleaned."

Naruto sputters when Hound gives her a light shove towards the women's side of the bathhouse. She is uncomfortable with this, because she's not sure if it's empty. She doesn't want people to stare at her, because they do—as if they're waiting for her to act up. She wants to protest and she tries—but her mouth shuts itself when she sees that white mask staring at her.

"F-Fine…" Naruto finally says. She decides that the faster she gets it done, the faster she can get back home. She doesn't have much of a choice with Hound around, anyways…

…

…

Kakashi pays Izumi for Naruto's entrance and then disappears as quickly as he had appeared. Izumi thinks nothing of the sight, finding it common after years of service to many of the shinobi who live in this village. The mask is certainly an interesting sight, but she leaves it at that. Instead, she goes directly back to work.

"How can I help you?" Izumi reacts quickly when an eleven-year-old boy with dark, spiky hair appears in front of her. He appears in a similar manner as the masked man before him, the two of them most likely making use of the same technique.

"I know this is weird, but have you seen a girl with red hair?" Distinctive onyx black eyes denote that the boy is from the Uchiha clan. He wears the typical high-collared attire that they're known to wear.

Izumi wouldn't be surprised to see a symbol of a fan on the back of his shirt if he were to turn around. She takes his question into consideration and decides to make the most out of it, since she knows this boy in particular. "That depends if you're here as a customer."

"Izumi~!" he whines.

…

…

Kakashi takes a moment to observe his surroundings. He needs to ensure that he has some privacy so he can summon one of his ninken. He picks Pakkun, for various reasons regarding his small size, speed, and keen sense of smell. It only takes a couple of seconds to summon the brown pug.

"I need you to keep an eye on Naruto while I'm gone," Kakashi informs Pakkun. It will take a while for Maneki Neko to locate Naruto, since he disappeared with her all too suddenly. He…might be hearing a few complaints from her when night falls and he joins her side. "You can do that, right?"

Pakkun scowls. "What makes you think I can't?"

"Excellent!" It amuses Kakashi with how prideful Pakkun can be. It makes his job all the more easier when he's giving the pug a task. "Don't hesitate to come to me if anything goes wrong. And keep an eye out for Maneki Neko—she's on her way."

Pakkun doesn't even bother to respond when Kakashi leaves. He knows he walked right into that one, so he might as well do as he's told (at the very least, he was given a heads-up about Maneki Neko). It shouldn't be that difficult of a task, anyways…

He sniffs the air a few times and then starts walking towards a particular scent. He notices a change in the scent, in that it doesn't smell completely of instant ramen this time around. It's still there, but it's more than just that now.

" _Just what have you been doing, Kakashi?"_ Pakkun can only wonder.

…

"Are you waiting for someone?" Pakkun doesn't bother staying out of sight and, as a result, it doesn't take long for the bathhouse attendant, Izumi, to spot him. "I'm sure they'll be out soon."

Pakkun says nothing and just continues waiting. He has a job to do, after all. Distractions are the last thing he needs…or so he initially thinks, before the scent of dried meat catches his attention. It is at that moment when a strip of dried meat is dropped at his feet, courtesy of Izumi, who smiles warmly at him.

"You work hard, yes?" Izumi taps at her forehead, as if referring to the hitai-ate Pakkun wears on his head. "Hard workers deserve to be rewarded."

Pakkun snorts, but says nothing. He appreciates the thought and decides that it would be too distracting to leave the dried meat as is. And it's not as if he can't continue his job while he's eating…

The dried meat provides Pakkun with a pleasant distraction to pass the time as he waits for Naruto to finish bathing. He is placid enough to not mind the children that take a moment to pat his head as they either leave or enter the bathhouse alongside their parents. And he is more than content when he finally finishes eating the strip of dried meat. He sighs in satisfaction and notices that it's just in time, because Naruto has left the women's side of the bathhouse.

Pakkun takes in her new scent, noticing how much cleaner she smells. It's certainly better than smelling of instant ramen. He takes a moment to stretch when he stands up, not really caring much when Naruto's eyes are focused on him. He was told to watch her, not stay out of sight.

Although, the distress on Naruto's face makes Pakkun think twice. _"Is she afraid of dogs?"_

It takes Pakkun a few seconds to realize that Naruto's distress had a different cause, just after an eleven-year-old boy appears in front of her. The boy stands at a height much taller than Naruto, with dark hair that's nowhere near spiky as hers. He has made use of the Shunshin no Jutsu, which makes him anything but a typical civilian. And the symbol of a fan emblazoned on the back of the boy's shirt further proves that.

" _An Uchiha…"_ Pakkun has no idea what an Uchiha would want with Naruto, although…he can't help but find something familiar about this Uchiha in particular. _"Why is that?"_

" _You_ —you're coming with me!" the young Uchiha loudly exclaims as he lifts Naruto off the ground without any warning. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Wh-Wha?!" Naruto is absolutely confused. Of all the things to happen now—this isn't one she had expected.

"I had to take a bath because of you!" The young Uchiha is purposely oblivious to all that is going on around him. He has found who he has been looking for—that's all that matters to him. He knows he has the right person, too, with her whiskered cheeks and distinctive red hair. "See ya around, Izumi!"

"Wait, let me—" Naruto is cut off by the sudden disappearance of her and the Uchiha.

Pakkun starts growling when he realizes what had happened. _"Dammit!"_

Kakashi is certainly going to be cross with him…

"Ahh, I'm sorry—I didn't think Shisui-kun would do something like this!" Izumi catches Pakkun by surprise with her comment. "Sorry, sorry!"

" _Shisui…"_ Pakkun stops growling. He knows that name, but where— _"His brother!"_

Has it been that long since he's last seen Shisui? Pakkun is surprised with how much the boy has grown…but now is not the time for him to be reminiscing. Kakashi needs to know now of what just happened.

"Son of a bitch—I just _found_ you two!" Ahh, it seems Maneki Neko has arrived…rather late at that.

"You're late!" Pakkun almost snarls.

"Tell Inushi to give me a heads up next time—do you have any idea how many bathhouses are in this village?!" Maneki Neko is practically seething with rage. She gives absolutely no fucks about her composure in front of others. Professionalism be damned, she's _mad_. "I have limits with my shadow clones, dammit!"

"I'll let you touch my paw pads if you—" Pakkun almost yelps when Maneki Neko suddenly sweeps him into her arms.

"No take-backsies!" Maneki Neko is far too happy for Pakkun's comfort, but at the very least, she's managed to calm down. "Sorry about the outburst, Izumi!"

Izumi only nods her head and smiles. She does not mind the disturbance at all. She rather welcomes it, since it gives her a break from boredom. She only hopes that Shisui doesn't suffer in any shape or form from his abrupt actions.

…

…

This time, Naruto _does_ throw up after being subjected to a second helping of the Shunshin no Jutsu. The acid burns her throat and stomach most unpleasantly and it is thanks to the boy's quick reflexes that prevent him from getting covered in the half-digested remains of what was once fried rice.

"Eeeugh…" The boy's face contorts into one of disgust. He sticks his tongue out as he holds Naruto as far away as possible from himself. He's somewhat wary of her, in case she manages to throw up again. "Okay, that's definitely my bad…"

" _No shit…"_ Naruto wipes her mouth on the back of her hand. Everything feels so _uncomfortable_. She is far from home in a location she doesn't recognize with someone she doesn't know. Her stomach is still churning and she just…wants to _cry_.

"Hey, don't cry—it's okay!" The boy tries his best to keep Naruto from crying. He holds her closely against his chest and pats her reassuringly on the back. It isn't doing much, but at the very least, it's keeping her grounded. "Shh—it's okay! Please don't cry…"

All his efforts to keep Naruto from crying are rendered useless when she ends up crying anyways. This is the last thing he needs because now _everyone_ is looking at them. Beads of sweat roll down his face when he hears people whispering too each other. It…probably wasn't that good of an idea to bring Naruto to this area of the Uchiha District, now that he actually thinks about it. She sticks out so much with her fiery-red hair that he can hear a few children in the background commenting on it.

" _Sasuke, you owe me big time…"_ The boy sighs heavily and starts walking at a brisk pace. For Naruto's sake, he avoids using the Shunshin no Jutsu. "Come on—there's someone who wants to see you."

He tries giving her a small smile and resists the urge to laugh when she tries glaring at him. Had she not been crying, then _maybe_ he would have taken her a little seriously. He still feels rather bad, because it's his fault she's crying.

"I've heard a lot about you, ya know…" the boy continues. "Like, a lot…"

Naruto sniffs a few times, her hands gripping the fabric of the boy's shirt rather tightly. She does _not_ like the sound of that. "R-Really…?"

"Yeah, Sasuke wouldn't shut up about you!" The boy is too happy for his own good, with a smile that irritates the hell out of her. He just fucking kidnapped her—why is he happy?! Wait a second…

" _Did he just…"_ Oh _no_ …

"So I decided to track you down and see if he shuts up when he sees you again!" It's not the best idea he's ever thought of, but at the very least, he hopes it gets the job done. Sasuke needs to interact with more children his age anyways, instead of just him and Itachi. "Say, I'm Uchiha Shisui—it's nice to meet you!"

Shisui hopes for Naruto to introduce herself. Instead, he gets the shock of his life when she suddenly starts sobbing again. The poor girl sounds so distressed and he cannot even begin to understand _why_ , when she had only started to calm down.

He knows nothing of the vivid image Naruto has of him, where he's older than he is now and is missing an eye. Where he then removes his remaining eye and then commits suicide in front of Itachi. He is so blissfully unaware of the tragedy that lies ahead in his future.

But Naruto is not so lucky, because she _knows_ —so she starts crying for him. Because she doesn't feel comfortable interacting with someone she knows is going to die—she _hates_ it.

_Hate, hate, hate, hate…_

She hates how nauseous she's gotten from just even thinking about his death. She doesn't even know him personally, but it's still fucking her up so _badly_ that she can't help but cry about it.

_I wanna go home!_

At least Hound was a far better introduction into her life than someone who is going to fucking _die_!

"Haa…" Shisui tries his hardest to keep his cool as the girl in his arms continues to cry. She is rather loud, but that's probably his fault for putting her in such a distressed state. _"I might have gone too far…"_

_Hic!_

Yeah, now she's hiccupping.

"I'm sorry…" Shisui knows that apologizing won't fix the mess he's created, but it's the most he can do. He's being genuine about it and he'll do just about anything to make up for it. "I didn't mean to make you cry…"

He never meant to make her cry…

…

…

Sasuke is in the middle of his studies when Shisui suddenly enters the room and drops a _very_ familiar red-haired girl in front of him. He blinks a few times and then promptly pushes his books, pencils, and papers off the table. A wide grin crosses his face as he crawls over to the red-haired girl, not taking her distressed state into consideration until he's looking right into her face.

"Hey, it's you!" Sasuke says all too loudly. "Hey—are you crying?"

Naruto wants so desperately to tell Sasuke to fuck off—except she can't. She's too much of a blubbering mess to say anything, because holy fuck, WHY is she here?! Why is she in the Uchiha clan compound and why the _fuck_ is she seeing Sasuke again?!

"Ahhh, ahhhh….ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…" Naruto feels sick…she feels really, _really_ sick. Her stomach is burning and her body is shaking so hard. Her eyes widen when she feels something hot and wet pool under her. She doesn't even need to look down to know what happened.

_I just…took a bath…_

Her face heats up with a visible blush when she sees Sasuke backing away from her so quickly. She doesn't even know how to react when he looks at her again. He says nothing—he just continues to stare.

It is Shisui who breaks the silence between them when he realizes how much more the situation had managed to escalate. "Well, then…that was unexpected."

His words have the unintended side effect of making Naruto cry yet again. Shisui cringes when he hears how loud Naruto is. Yeah, they're _definitely_ going to hear her. It's only a matter of seconds before the door is urgently forced open with much more strength than is needed by Uchiha Mikoto.

"What happened?!" Mikoto frantically asks, looking around the room for the source of the crying. Her blood runs cold when her eyes come across a familiar shade of red that she hasn't seen in years. "Wh-Wha?"

"Okaa-san, Naruto had an accident!" Sasuke's tactless comment only manages to make Naruto cry even louder, because fucking hell—she didn't _need_ him to point out the obvious.

"N-Naruto…" Mikoto repeats the name as she takes in the sight of the crying red-haired girl with whiskered cheeks and ochre skin. "Wh-Why…?"

"Uhhh…I have a lot to explain…" Shisui jolts in his spot when Mikoto suddenly looks at him.

"Yes…you do—tell me everything after you've cleaned up this mess." Mikoto's tone is firm, but not nearly as harsh as Shisui was expecting. He lets out a loud sigh in relief and walks past Mikoto to fetch some cleaning supplies. It is only after Shisui is out of sight that Mikoto walks over to Naruto. She hesitates for a moment before kneeling down and placing a gentle hand on Naruto's head. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up…"

…

…

Half an hour later, Naruto finds herself huddled up in the corner of a room, with her knees brought up to her chest. She is dressed in a dark blue kimono that Mikoto has lent her while her clothes are being washed. Her cheeks burn from embarrassment when she recalls the accident she had earlier.

" _So embarrassing…"_ She's not exactly happy with what had happened, especially since she was made to take another bath. At the very least, Sasuke left her alone after that.

"Hey…" And speak of the devil, there he is. "You okay now?"

Naruto tenses when Sasuke's face suddenly pops up in front of hers. He appears to have little to no knowledge about personal space from the way he so nonchalantly invades hers. He stares at her for a few seconds before moving away, allowing Naruto the chance to release the breath she didn't know she was holding. Her relief is short-lived though, because Sasuke decides to sit right next to her.

"Accidents happen," Sasuke states as a matter-of-factly. He gives Naruto a small pat on the head, because he's seen his mother do that to her as a way of cheering her up. It has the opposite effect that he hopes it would on her, so he puffs up his cheeks in annoyance. "Hmph…"

So much for that…

"Hey, do you like daifuku?" Sasuke wonders if this will cheer her up. He's not a fan of sweets, but maybe Naruto is, so… "Do you want one?"

Sasuke holds a plate of colorful confections for Naruto to see. He feels his heart skip a beat when he sees her perk up a bit. A smile crosses his face when she reaches out a grabs a green-colored daifuku. She's not talking to him, but she's not completely ignoring him, so that has to be an improvement!

"Hey, hey—I'm Uchiha Sasuke!" Sasuke introduces himself for a second time. He stares expectantly at Naruto, waiting for a response. Even though he already knows who she is, he wants to hear it from her.

"U-Uzumaki Naruto…" And when he hears her say her name, he starts to laugh.

And even though it isn't the first time they have met, Sasuke still says, "It's nice to meet you!"

Because he really does mean it, with the hope that maybe—just maybe…they'll become friends.

…

…

* * *

_Translation of chapter title: "Nice to meet you!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anything, a HUGE shout out to skyfloe for making a small comic for this fic that I have made canon in this chapter (if you're wondering what it is, it's the scene with the walks, the bet, and the "but at what cost?"). I'll post up the links to the comic eventually, but you can find it on my tumblr under the tag, skyfloe, and que sera sera (fanfic). Seriously though, check it out because skyfloe is hella amazing!
> 
> Anyways, it's been a while since my last update and holy shit, update on my life COLLEGE IS KICKING THE CRAP OUT OF ME! Because guess who added chemistry as a second major? Yoooooo.
> 
> I'm also taking a tax training session and word of advice, NEVER take one when you have chemistry and precalculus—it's fucking hell. But hey, at least I can get some money out of this when I'm done with it and I am in such a desperate need for moneys because there be Pokémon, Kingdom Hearts (KHUX is still an obsession and I have dragged down many friends with me, so beware!), and Persona 5 in the future!
> 
> Speaking of Persona, kurobook and I are currently going through Façade and editing the shit out of it if anyone needs to know. For that reason, I've deleted every chapter after chapter 3, but if anyone is interested in looking at the old copy, I posted it on my tumblr at klonoadreams, just look for it under fanfiction stuff.
> 
> Moving along, here you have Naruto slowly adjusting to having Hound (Kakashi) in her life. And then Shisui comes the fuck out of nowhere because Sasuke wouldn't shut up. And because of that, you have Mikoto meeting Naruto.
> 
> Don't know what to tell you about how Naruto was in this chapter, except hey—she's a mess. And she's also physically four, so she is a child. Do try to keep that in mind, adult mentality be damned (I'll have you know it means nothing). There's also the fact that, being an SI, Naruto ALSO happens to have inherited my anxiety and depression. So if you're wondering how someone can be that much of a mess, there you go. (I'm back in counseling if one must know.)
> 
> ALSO, to clarify from the previous chapter, Kakashi had a crush on both Minato and Obito. He hasn't moved on from either, but Minato is more noteworthy because he never had a chance. And also, non-romantic ships are a thing—there are people who are designated to that position (one such example being Kakashi, in case anyone was worried).
> 
> Moving on, since this fic has now moved into harem/polyamory territory, I'm loving the support for Hinata amongst Sasuke and Itachi. Gaara has been mentioned and Deidara too. And maybe even Neji?
> 
> Fun fact: QSS!Naruto could possibly have Uzumaki-Hyuuga children if she were to pair up with Neji, being not only Hinata's cousin but also, genetically, her half-brother (their parents being identical twins makes them genetically siblings). Meaning that Boruto and Himawari are not completely lost to this setting, but ehh, it depends on how this story turns out. Just wanted to point that out because I thought it was interesting.
> 
> Feel free to continue giving out your suggestions! After all, we got a long ways to go before we get anywhere, so we might as well have fun, no?
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Don't feel too shy to drop by and say something—I'm always all ears to see what you have to say about this story, so long as it isn't about updates! So until next time, everyone!


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